Heavenly Winter News 2011-12

Choose Wisely

Overlooking the sapphire-blue waters of Lake Tahoe, Heavenly is one of the most unique snowsports destinations on the planet. A Heavenly vacation is all about choices. With more recreation and entertainment options than any other winter resort destination, you've got plenty of decisions to make. Do you ski California or Nevada? Will it be 34 miles of wide-open, groomed cruisers, 1,600-foot plunges in the double-black-diamond canyons or the most outrageous tree skiing in North America? Is it the 60-foot jumps in Jackpot Terrain Park, or a spin down the largest tubing hill on the U.S. West Coast?

As always, Heavenly will provide the exceptional service and experience that you expect from a Vail Resort. Our mountain offers breathtaking views amidst a wide variety of terrain; from the best tree skiing on the planet to the smoothest groomed runs you’ll find at Lake Tahoe. Add that to a tubing, sledding, ski biking, ice skating, sleigh rides, shopping, spas, movie theaters and bowling alleys, and Heavenly offers a vacation that appeals to every member of the family or group. And when the sun goes down, there's a Pandora's Box of après ecstasy in the form of Vegas-style action, all-night dance clubs, world-class entertainment and five-star dining.

In December 2010, Heavenly opened Tamarack Lodge, a spectacular 14,980-square-foot restaurant located at the top of Heavenly’s Gondola that seats 500 inside and 250 on the outdoor patio. Decorated with rustic chandeliers and floor to ceiling walls, Tamarack Lodge is the perfect hub for family fun at Adventure Peak.

Tamarack is the crown jewel of Heavenly’s major revitalization over the past eight years, which includes new and upgraded lifts, increased snowmaking and grooming, and additional on-mountain amenities. These projects signal Heavenly’s ongoing commitment to providing the finest on-mountain experience for skiers and snowboarders.

There are only so many hours in a day … and night. Make them all count.

A World-Class Destination

Travelers who plan a trip to Heavenly don’t just get all Lake Tahoe has to offer – they get a complete California experience.

Start in San Francisco, renowned as one of the greatest cities in the world for many things, including five-star dining, a happening theater and music scene, steep rolling hills, an eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture, and its famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and Chinatown.

Just a couple hours up Highway 50 on their way to Lake Tahoe, vacationers receive a glimpse of the agricultural diversity of El Dorado County. But there is much more to El Dorado County than just the sights from this historic road. Hundreds of farmers and ranchers produce an amazing abundance and variety of agricultural products, including the renowned El Dorado County vineyards and wineries.

California is incredibly diverse – geographically as well as culturally. Californians are laid-back, accepting of alternative lifestyles, not uniformly religious, and preoccupied with environmental issues. They’re obsessed with technology and pop culture, but often too cool to act like it. Heavenly is a perfect representation of the state’s melting pot, where there is always a language, an accent or a familiar face to make even the most far afield traveler feel at home.

Heavenly’s Master Plan: Good for Skiers, Great for the EnvironmentThe environment is everything at Lake Tahoe. Heavenly’s proximity to the Lake makes it one of the most unique and awe-inspiring places to visit, but it also means that our actions can impact the Lake, and the resort must act as an environmental steward to preserve our precious gift.

Heavenly has embraced this aspect of Tahoe living, implementing a host of eco-friendly business practices designed to protect and preserve the area’s unique natural beauty. A leader among ski resorts, Heavenly employs a Master Plan to determine whether there is an overall trend of improvement in environmental conditions for forest, soil, air, and water resources. The use of an innovative water-treatment system provides the highest levels of effectiveness in a commercially available product, with the objective of meeting nearly the same water-quality standards as safe drinking water. As the founding member of the Coordinated Transit System, Heavenly transports more than 450,000 passengers on low-emission shuttles every season, saving nearly 1.6 million vehicle miles of travel. The resort has also taken a leadership role in recycling and conservation. In 2008 Vail Resorts initiated a company-wide energy use reduction program called Target 10%. The program’s goal is to achieve a 10% reduction in overall energy use across the company by 2010, using 2008 as the baseline year.

As of November 2010, companywide energy reduction of electricity, gasoline, diesel, propane and natural gas stood at 7.2%. Heavenly replaced older, less-efficient snow guns with high-efficiency fan and “stick” guns which are estimated to save over 1,686,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

Family Travel

No Lake Tahoe resort offers more options for the entire family than Heavenly. Heavenly’s hub of family fun, Adventure Peak, offers families the largest tubing operation on the West Coast (five 500-foot-long lanes with a 65-foot vertical drop, accessed by a state-of-the-art elevated magic carpet), sightseeing, sledding, ski bikes and snowshoeing. Throw in ice skating, arcades, spas, boat cruises, sleigh rides, incredible shopping, a variety of dining options and diverse and affordable lodging, and Heavenly is the ultimate family destination on and off the mountain.

And who says you have to give up skiing or riding just because you’ve got a little one? Not Heavenly. We operate a CA-state-licensed day care facility for kids six weeks to six years old. Our qualified staff provides meaningful, age-appropriate play experiences so parents can enjoy their time on the hill without having to worry about the welfare of their children. We also offer a ski/play program for children over three years old.

Heavenly also offers three ski school locations for convenient and easy access. Heavenly operates Lake Tahoe’s finest ski school, boasting three members of the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s National Demonstration Team and six members of America’s Western Demonstration Team. And Heavenly has made choosing a coach easier than ever. On www.skiheavenly.com, guests will find video profiles of our top instructors on the video and & interactive tab and ski and ride school tab and can pick the coach that best suits their personality and skiing or snowboarding style.

The Hidden Heavenly – Revealed!

Just a few feet away from the hustle and bustle of your standard destination resort lies a skiing nirvana of powder and solitude that many never explore: glade or tree skiing. And Heavenly has glades in spades. Off of virtually every lift, there is incredible tree skiing. One of Heavenly's advantages is the type of trees that populate the resort: the red firs and white pines which need sunlight to grow and thus naturally leave a lot of space between one another. The trees never get too tight, setting up, instead, a natural slalom course.

Warm up with our "beginner" trees - Galaxy Glades and Orion's Belt. Skiways Glades, Powderbowl Woods and Maggie's Canyon are long, rolling powder stashes. And then there’s Avalanche Bowl, Dipper Woods and Mott and Killebrew Canyons for the steep and deep. And finally, there's the coup d'gras, Nevada Woods. With its 350-year-old trees, stellar pillow drops and 6,000 feet of quad-burning steeps, this is the bee’s knees of trees.

Hire a guide from Heavenly’s Adventure Sessions program, check out www.tahoestash.com and find out what the locals know about Heavenly (and won’t tell you!).

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